characteristic

[ kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik ]

adjective

1. Also characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive:

   Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.

   Synonyms: peculiar, special

noun

1. a distinguishing feature or quality:

   Generosity is his chief characteristic.

   Synonyms: trait, property, attribute

2. Mathematics.
   1. the integral part of a common logarithm. Compare mantissa.
   2. the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation.
   3. the smallest positive integer n such that each element of a given ring added to itself n times results in 0.

characteristic

/ ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk /

noun

1. a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait
2. maths
   1. the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated number Compare mantissa

      the characteristic of 2.4771 is 2

   2. another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing

adjective

1. indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical

characteristic

/ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk /

1. The part of a logarithm to the base 10 that is to the left of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, 2 is the characteristic.
2. Compare mantissa

Derived Forms

• ˌcharacterˈistically, adverb

Other Words From

• char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb
• non·char·ac·ter·is·tic adjective
• non·char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb
• qua·si-char·ac·ter·is·tic adjective
• qua·si-char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb
• un·char·ac·ter·is·tic adjective
• un·char·ac·ter·is·ti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of characteristic¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from Greek charaktēristikós ( character, -istic )

Synonym Study

See feature.

Example Sentences

Hongjun Lin from New York University will present results on the acoustic characteristics of a physical model of the Parasaurolophus' crest Thursday, Nov.

From Science Daily

"Such intensive investments in the landscape may have led ultimately to the development of the complex society characteristic of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, which subsequently occurred in this area by around 1200 BCE."

From Science Daily

“They're more cautious players than that. It may be that they're leading with Chinese characteristics, which is what they might say themselves.”

From BBC

Roberts possessed all the characteristics Pebley was looking for in a new head coach: forward thinker, developer of people and leader.

From Los Angeles Times

Last week, a United Nations special committee found that Israel has committed atrocities consistent with the characteristics of genocide.

From Salon

Related Words

• distinctive
• idiosyncratic
• innate
• peculiar
• singular
• unique